


The River

by Wordprism



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Cyclops - Freeform, M/M, The River - Freeform, Wolverine - Freeform, hugh jackman - Freeform, james marsden - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 20:36:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3088268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordprism/pseuds/Wordprism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan takes Scott somewhere special for a trip.  Based on The River play, currently showing with Hugh Jackman on Broadway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The River

**Author's Note:**

> I was recently lucky enough to attend The River, a play starring Hugh Jackman on Broadway! He talked to us afterwards, it was magical, eeeep! I had to base a fic off of this, but it does have some differences, which I'll note at the end.

 

“It’s not really that small. It’s kind of cozy.” Scott grinned to himself as he set down his duffel bags. He wasn’t the lightest of packers.

“Thought you might like it here.” Logan laughed heartily and carried the bags into the bedroom. “It’s not every day you get to leave behind life for isolation.”

“You’re right.” The younger man ran his fingertips over the dark wood of the cabin walls. “It’s very… scenic. I never heard of you leaving to come up here.”

“That’s cause I save it for special occasions.” Logan sat down on the cushioned bench next to the dinner table and cocked a brow. “If I went here all the time it’d hardly be special. Oh, right.” He stood back up again and walked towards the door, boots thumping on the wood. “I’ve got to go get some firewood. You stay here.”

“Okay.” Scott grinned shyly upwards, standing in the middle of the room with his backside leaning on the table. “You should come back soon, cause the sunset starts-” Logan was already out the door. “Well alright.”

By the time the Canadian returned, he’d gathered an armful of firewood. He set it down before the fireplace and gazed up to find the desk moved to the other side of the room. “What’re ya’ doin, Scotty?”

“Reading.” He saw that Logan was behind him. “I moved the desk, sorry,” Scott laughed and closed the book, putting it back on the built in shelf. “I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to do that but-”

“No, it’s fine Scott-”

“Because I’d really hate to be that one person you take up here and on the first day moves the table. ‘Hold up! The boyfriend moved the table!’”

Logan couldn’t help but feel his lips crack into a sly grin. “You’re funny, you know that?”

“I do. I also know that you’re probably so peeved on the inside that I moved the goddamn table.”

Logan just smiled and slid the table back into place. “There. You happy now?”

“Extremely.” Scott always had this innocently devious aura about him. It flared in his body language as much as it did in his eyes. “But seriously, I thought if we stayed here another hour we could go out and watch the sunset from the hillside.”

“I promised you we’d go fishing tonight, didn’t I? I always did that as I was growing up.”

“Promise people to go fishing?” Scott chuckled.

“No, actually go fishing, genius.” Logan leaned down with a slight spark in his amber eyes, pressing a lingering kiss onto Scott’s smooth jaw line.

“Well the fish aren’t going to go anywhere in one hour. Why don’t you stay and watch it with me, James?”

“But-”

“You watch my sunset and I won’t bother you again for this whole trip. Come on. You said it yourself. You can get fish anywhere. But not a sunset like this.”

“You clearly haven’t been down to the river, then.” Logan sat beside Scott on the bench and fixed his already perfect glasses.

“Maybe I haven’t. But I also haven’t been down to the hillside to watch the dusk turn to night, either.”

“I might have to drag you down there if I can’t convince you, Scott. I just might have to.” Logan leaned forward behind his lover, sliding another open book into his hands. “Read this, Darlin’.”

It was a poem about what it felt like to be down by the river, staring at the water with only the embrace of the night air to watch over you. It was black as night, yet you could feel the wild running through your veins. Typical Logan. He’d always been so eager to reach back to his wild side. Scott was a willing victim of falling to his ways. “Alright, alright, we’ll go.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

“Absolutely wonderful.” Logan wasted no time in grabbing Scott’s hand, leading him outside to go and get the fishing rods and another pair of rubber boots. He always became so enthusiastic when it came to the outdoors. For once, he was able to cherish having someone to share it with. It only took a moment for them to reach their destination, off in the dark, down by the river.

**********************************************************************

 

 

The cabin door slammed open with a howl of wind, a panicked silhouette rushing into the room. Logan’s breathing was rapid. His chest was heaving as he gripped the wall for support, fumbling for his phone in the back pocket of his pants. He hardly had the composure to dial three numbers on the keypad.

“Shit, shit, shit pick up God dammit!” Logan rammed the heel of his hand into the wall, his knees pressing together with a level of anguish he hadn’t experienced in decades. It was impossible to keep his voice from wavering or spiking in pain and fury. “Yeah, I need… I need a- I need the sheriff here n-now I-... NO, dammit! Fucking listen to me!!! D-down by the river… It’s pitch black and somehow I- I lost- no, I lost a young man there and- Yes, we were only fishing and I lost him on the water’s edge and-”

Scott opened the door with a bucket casually held to his hip. “Logan… what on Earth?”

The other man dropped the phone instantly and rushed over as if to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination. He grabbed Scott by the shoulders and held his face, with tears in his eyes. “S-scott, where were you, I called the damn p-police I-”

“You said we needed more bait.... So that’s where I went. I got up to get more bait from under the rocks I-”

Logan hugged him so tightly he could feel the air flood from his lungs. “You had me worried half to death, never do that again. I said we needed more beer, not bait, you idiot.” He held Scott’s cheeks for a moment, accidentally squishing them before he pulled the younger man’s face into the crook of his neck.

“I really thought you said that you wanted more bait, Logan…”

“That’s because you’re tipsy.”

“...Oh.” Scott’s eyes lit up with laughter. “I’m sorry.” He set the bucket down on the table and gave an apologetic pout.

Logan’s eyes darted immediately into the bucket. There was a fish in there that must have weighed easily ten pounds. “How the hell… When did you catch that?”

Scott cocked a brow. “You don’t think the Alaska boy can catch a fish?”

“Did you use the lure I gave you?” Logan took a glimpse at the fishing rod, only to find a bare hook at the end.

“Well… I did at first.” Scott took the fish out of the bucket and plopped it on the table, clearly still tipsy. “But then I met another man in the woods who let me borrow his lures for not too bad a price.”

Logan stared down at the fish. It would certainly make for a delicious dinner. “What’d you have to pay? And what did he give you?”

“Nothing too much. Just a blowjob.”

“A what?” Logan’s heart jumped up into his throat. Scott made it so difficult to tell between seriousness and sarcasm.

Smiling hazily, Scott wrapped his arms around the feral’s waist. He stayed quiet and planted soft kisses all up and down his neck, his fingers dipping just below Logan’s T-shirt.. “I’m just playin’ with you. It’s only the two of us out here.”

“Alright, Love.” Logan pressed his lips to Scott’s forehead, holding his body in a tender embrace. “Now,” he murmured, “you wanna’ tell me what you used to catch that monster of a fish-”

“A yellow gummy bear,” Scott whispered onto Logan’s neck.

Logan’s dark brows immediately furrowed in disbelief. “A yellow-”

“Gummy bear.”

“A yellow fucking gummy bear?” Logan pulled back to look in Scott’s eyes, but with his arms still locked in the embrace.

The younger mutant stared up, with his full lips barely parted. He knew Logan could tell he was making puppy eyes up at him. He also knew that Logan couldn’t resist his pleading expression. “Yeah… Is there something wrong with that? I mean, I think I got us a decent meal for tonight…”

“You know something?”

“That depends on what that something is.”

“I love you. I love you so so much.” Logan wasted no time in dipping his lover, kissing him passionately on the mouth and running his hands all up and down his lower back. He gave Scott’s whole body a gentle hug and squeeze, softly nipping his ear and breathing down his neck. The animalistic instincts Logan possessed immediately alerted him of Scott’s increasing heart rate and breathing. “I’ll tell you what. You go get cleaned up, and I’ll get the wine and cook dinner for us. Sound like a plan?”

“A wonderful plan.” Scott lifted himself up, nearly swooning back down onto the ground. He caught himself, even within his charmingly intoxicated stupor, and slipped off into the bedroom as he removed his clothes to clean himself off.

Logan immediately began to prepare the meal, pulling out vegetables and spices from the cabinets to flavor the dish. With skilled hands, he chopped up a few stalks of leafy greens. He sliced a lemon in half and rubbed it over the outside of the fish once he’d filleted it. Scott wasn’t the type who could work his way around the bones. He was too fussy about his food.

Logan carried the pan over to the oven and slid it in, turning on the heat and adjusting the temperature. He could hear the shower running from the bathroom, laughing to himself at the thought of Scott having to deal with the cool water. “It’ll be ready in ten minutes, Scott.” Logan pulled a bottle of red wine out of the cabinet, filling up two glasses and setting the table.

In a few minutes, Scott walked into the dining room with a towel on his waist. “Logan?”

“Mhm, Dar-” Logan stopped when he found Scott still undressed. “Something the matter?”

“No…” Scott furrowed his brows quietly and shook his head.

“You sure-”

“How many other people have you taken up here?” Scott’s expression was innocently perplexed.

“So that’s what’s irking you.” Logan tilted his head and studied the other man’s face.   “Come here.” Logan quietly walked over and pulled the younger man into his arms, kissing his shoulder once and squeezing him so close that his feet lifted up off the ground. “I have taken other people here before, I’m not going to lie.”

“How many?”

“Does it matter?”

“Well there’s a big difference between one and one hundred…”

“Scott… You know that at this very moment, you’re the only thing on my mind. It doesn’t matter what I spent a century doing.” Logan frowned and put his thumb on Scott’s lips. “I’ll make you a deal. There’s something in a box under the bed that I want you to bring back to the dinner table after you get yourself nice and dressed.”

“What is it?” Scott raised a suspicious brow and adjusted the towel around his waist.

“Just go get dressed and bring it back with you.”

“Is it a r-” Scott was smart enough to catch himself with a smile, turning on his heels to go back into the bedroom.

He returned wearing a dark pair of pants and a crimson shirt that he hadn’t finished buttoning. Logan was already sitting at the table, filling the glasses up just a little more.

“Hello, handsome.”

Scott sat down quietly and set the box on the table. Logan had already given him a plateful of dinner, but he wanted to strike up a conversation first. “Can I open it?”

“Yeah, if you want.”

That seemed like an odd way to begin a proposal, Scott thought. He eagerly lifted the lid and furrowed his brows in confusion. It was “A rock.” Scott bit his lip and looked up at Logan. “This is a rock,” he laughed. It really did capture the light beautifully, and he could understand why Logan wanted to show it to him. But he couldn’t stop laughing in disbelief. “It’s a goddamn rock.”

Logan blinked. “Yeah, I mean I’ve had it a long time-” Why was Scott’s face buried in his hands? “Scott…?”

“I’m so stupid. So so stupid,” he gasped under his breath.

“What did you think, Scott?”

The younger man peeked out from behind his hands and shook his head. He took a sip of wine and thanked his lucky stars for the glasses covering his eyes.

“Oh God…” Logan stood up immediately and walked over to the Scott’s chair, kneeling on the ground and putting his hands on his knee. “Scott, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay.” Scott let out a disheartened laugh and shook his head. “It was silly for me to think after three months that-”

“No, it wasn’t stupid of you.” Logan shook his head and cupped Scott’s wet face in his hands. “You’re right. I should’ve made that more clear. But you know how much I love you.”

“Since when can you draw?”

“Since what? I can’t draw, silly.”

“There’s a drawing under the bed of a woman in a red dress. The same red dress that was still hanging up in the closet. Except in the picture… her face was scratched out.” Scott pressed his lips together slowly as he awaited a reply. “Did you know her? Was it a long time ago? Is she still alive? Why do you keep it if you don’t need it anymore?”

“Why don’t we just eat first, and then we’ll talk about it.”

“I’d rather talk about it right now, thank you very much.” Scott ate a bit of the fish and chewed slowly. “It’s delicious, by the way.”

“Just like you.”

“Logan, I’m not in the mood for that now… I really just… Everything right now is adding up in all the wrong ways and-”

Logan responded immediately with a kiss. It was caring and sweet, especially with the way he held Scott close and swiped away his tears. He adored the beautiful way in which Scott relaxed against him. “I’m always in the wrong place at the wrong time, Scotty. That dress... it belonged to my mother. I kept it here so I wouldn’t be reminded of it too often. Only sometimes. It’s all I’ve got left of her. And as for the drawing, I… I didn’t draw it. I can’t draw to save my life. So please… Don’t cry, Darling. It kills me to see you cry…”

“It just… doesn’t add up right to me.” Scott stood with a quiet composure, holding his glass of wine as Logan followed him. “You told me your mother took her own life, and you fled miles and miles. There’s no way you thought to take that with you. Besides, I’m smart enough to know at least a little bit about fashion. And I’m pretty sure your mom wasn’t around anytime long enough to buy something from Gucci.”

Logan’s eyes began to water.

“I’m giving you one more chance to tell me where it came from.”

The Canadian ran his fingers up through his hair and closed his eyes. “I almost got married, back when you were still in diapers. We lived here, because it was all I had. I got her that as a present. But I found her dead on the floor one day when I got home. So… that was that. Never got a chance to give it to her.” Logan raised a brow. “You happy now?”

“You didn’t have to lie about that.” Scott attempted to suppress his jealousy, but he knew it wasn’t working. “You never have to lie about anything to me. Especially with stuff like that. I mean... Logan, with all the time we've spent... All those times you were above me, just the two of us with you inside of me... The way you looked in my eyes every time you came and-...You should be able to tell me anything.”

Logan could tell that Scott was once again filled with an unreal amount of stress and envy. The boy never wanted to hear about any other lover that wasn’t him. He was so possessive sometimes, so blindly in love that he wanted to feel like the only one. He just looked like he needed a hug that lasted forever.

Slowly, the Wolverine wrapped his arms around the man he was nearly certain that he wished to spend the rest of his life with. “Sweetheart, I may take other women up here, to this place, and I may tell them I love them, make love to them.”

Scott cocked a brow.

Logan continued. “But they will be impostors. And I will be a ghost. Because me even considering doing so will mean that I have lost you. My body, my brains, my lungs, my stomach, my guts, legs, arms will be here. But I won’t be. I will be out there, looking for you. And if we meet somewhere, at a restaurant or at a party, and I’m with someone, you need to know that someone else is at my side only because you are not. She may be beautiful. She will be laughing and smiling, but she’ll be laughing at a lie. Because all I will have done to her is lie. All I will do to anyone else, forever, from this moment forward, anyone who isn’t you, is lie. I have no choice.”

Scott was at a loss for words. His lips were quivering, and his body was trembling. “I- I think we could sit down and finish dinner now I-”

“I love you,” Logan whispered. “More than anything else on this Earth.”

Scott embraced the man before him, nearly leaping into his arms. He refused to let go or release the feeling of warmth built up like a hearth within his chest.

“Now,” Logan said, running his fingers through the other man’s chestnut colored hair, “we’re going to finish dinner and our wine, then I’m going to get some more firewood. Then, when I come back, I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”

Scott smiled at the suggestion and nodded innocently. “Wonderful.”

By the time the wine was gone, dinner eaten, and the firewood retrieved, Logan returned to an interesting sight.

On the bed before him, folded neatly on the pillow, was a tie. It was red, the exact red of the dress that once hung in the closet. Logan quietly picked it up and studied it in his palm. He held it to his chest, a relieved smile glowing in his eyes.

“It’s for you. You’re in a new time, now, James.” Scott was laying in the bed wrapped in blankets, smiling up at the other man with honest intentions. “Do you like it?”

Logan climbed silently onto the bed and set the tie down on the night table. He stared down with a loving gaze at the face below his with a spark in his veins he hadn’t felt in all his years combined. “I’ve never been so happy to bring someone up by the river.”

**Author's Note:**

> While this story has more of a happy ending, the actual play is rather confusing at first and actually leaves you hating Hugh's character. The entire story is played out as one plot line, but in each scene, it switches on and off between two different women. At the end of the play, you find out that Hugh's character just performs the same game for each girl he takes up there, even though he promises them they're the most important. He basically brings them there, teaches them to fish, seduces them, and draws them in the red dress, (which he saves for each following woman, also why he scratches out the face once the previous girl finds him out and leaves). When the audience assumes he lost the first girl in the water, it's another woman who shows up having caught a fish. The other girl returns to play out the next scene. At first we all thought, "oh, maybe he's envisioning his current girlfriend as his wife who had died or something." But nope, the play ends with both of those women leaving, and at the very end, a third, unsuspecting girl shows up next. I couldn't ruin scott and logan's little love story like that, but in case anyone wanted to know how the play was actually written. :)  
> Oh and, while I was watching the play, Hugh's pants ripped. (They weren't supposed to.) So he ran off stage and walked back in like "Luckily I have an identical f*cking pair!"


End file.
